A glimmer of hope? Could it be—?

Sure enough, the man in black robes continued, "Although Mo Li has left his original body, the Tai Sui is an immortal and indestructible thing. Even a dead Tai Sui flesh cage, if fed with the corpse refining method, might be able to be brought back to life after a hundred years."

Yan Qing interjected, "So you built that artificial lake? To feed the flesh and blood of the common people to the Tai Sui's meat cage?"

The man in the black robe remained silent, which was almost an admission of agreement.

After hearing his story, Yan Qing had even more questions. She had a feeling that this real Master Sima wasn't telling the whole truth.

Actually, she didn't have any evidence; it was purely based on a woman's intuition.

Most importantly, there are still some logical gaps.

First, there's the butler. His hostility was blatant, and his obsession after death turned into something bizarre. That means this obsession must have been incredibly stubborn, but this element isn't present in the story of the man in the black robe, which doesn't make sense.

Secondly, there's Madam Zhang, who definitely knew Master Sima long ago. And she knew the current Master Sima was an imposter.

Thirdly, there's the new wife, Lady Luo, who has a grudge against Master Sima. If she were the reincarnation of the first wife, her age wouldn't make sense. Moreover, according to the man in black robes, his first wife has been dead for at least 160 years.

So she only asked the steward one question, "When exactly was Master Sima replaced?"

As a result, the butler's expression immediately changed, and he stammered for a long time without being able to utter a single word.

In this way, the black-robed man's words were immediately refuted.

Based on his deep affection for the person in the coffin, Yan Qing was basically certain that the "Sima Yuanwai" who had died but was still causing trouble by coming back to life was actually the woman incarnate as Tai Sui—Mo Li.

Suddenly, Yan Qing had a flash of inspiration; she seemed to have found the answer.

However, she needs to confirm it first.

She couldn't get anything out of the man in black and the butler. Besides, this time, they weren't the people she was looking for.

Half an hour later.

"Ms. Su, why have you come to my room in the middle of the night? Is something the matter?"

Madam Luo looked at the two of them with an annoyance, "Why do you have to disturb the peace in the middle of the night? Can't you talk about it tomorrow?"

"No, we can't talk about it tomorrow. Don't you think so?" Yan Qing asked with a smile.

Madam Luo objected, "What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is, if I come looking for you again tomorrow, I might never find you again."

Yan Qing glanced at Madam Luo's soaked lower body. "Am I right, Madam Luo? Or to be more precise, Miss Sima?"

Yan Qing raised her arm, and the Heaven and Earth Dice emitted a faint golden light, shining on Madam Luo. The next moment, Madam Luo was bound to the spot and could not move at all.

"What do you mean by this?" Madam Luo remained perfectly calm. "What Miss Sima? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Alright, since that's the case, I'll be more direct then." Yan Qing's expression turned serious.

"If I'm not mistaken, you are the source of this pollution in the Sima family. And you are also the daughter of Master Sima, am I right?"

Luo's expression turned cold and stern. "What evidence do you have?"

"Evidence? The evidence is that artificial lake. If I'm not mistaken, your mother, the late Madam Luo, committed suicide after being turned into a Tai Sui meat cage, right? And the dead Tai Sui's corpse was buried in the artificial lake."

In fact, she was able to discover this secret thanks to the Netherworld Brocade Fox she had contracted.

This morning, after realizing something was wrong, Yan Qing actually did two things. First, she had Lingxi sneak into Master Sima's bedroom to find evidence of the fake Master Sima.

The second thing was even simpler: she quietly released the Netherworld Brocade Fox as she passed by the artificial lake.

The Netherworld Brocade Fox was originally an undead creature, so it had a very clear sense of the dead Tai Sui meat cage.

When it arrived at the so-called "feeding Tai Sui" place, it found that there was only a soul-suppressing array set up there, the kind that would prevent it from ascending to immortality for all eternity.

In other words, no one ever fed the Tai Sui meat cage with living human lives in hopes of reviving it. From the very beginning, it was completely dead and suppressed by the Xuanmen's soul-suppressing formation, making rebirth impossible!

More importantly, although the lakebed was littered with corpses, there was not a trace of resentment, indicating that these servants must not have died in the artificial lake.

Their deaths must have been orchestrated by someone with ulterior motives, using the name of the Grand Duke Jupiter (a deity associated with the gods).

Although the Tai Sui is a divine object, its use is bound to bring misfortune—this is a memory from the depths of the Netherworld Brocade Fox's soul. Yan Qing had heard of this before.

However, there was not a trace of resentment from the Tai Sui in the vast artificial lake, which could only mean that the late Madam Luo willingly committed suicide after being turned into a Tai Sui meat cage.

This makes the reason for her suicide somewhat strange.

Yan Qing smiled and said, "I remember that Master Sima has been traveling around ever since he got married, and his family can't find him. It wouldn't be surprising if Madam Luo is pregnant and gives birth at this time."

"Another reason is that two people who are respectful to each other but have no feelings for each other can get along peacefully for two years. There must be an unbreakable bond that binds them together."

"And children are the strongest blood bond between husband and wife. Am I right?"

Of course, the most crucial direct evidence is still the corpse of the Tai Sui, which showed no resentment whatsoever. After all, anyone would harbor resentment if a woman were suddenly tricked into becoming a non-human monster.

However, the late Madam Luo did not. Therefore, the most reasonable explanation is that there was something more precious to Madam Luo than her own life.

—That's her daughter.

After Yan Qing finished expressing her guess, Madam Luo finally fell silent.

The next moment, she no longer concealed her overwhelming resentment, and the magical artifacts in the hands of Yan Qing and her brother began to flash wildly.

"Since that's the case, then you can all stay here!" Madam Luo's figure instantly expanded, transforming into a green, humanoid monster.

Her face was bruised and purple, and it seemed as if a sharp weapon had slashed across her forehead, splitting her face in two. One half was incredibly beautiful, while the other half appeared to have been burned, making her extremely ugly. Her long fingernails dragged on the ground, shimmering with a green fluorescence.

"Damn, this woman's resentment is incredible! Girl, we're probably really going to have to fight this time!"

Yan Che put on a mournful face, but his hands moved very quickly. He activated the heavy water droplets at full power, creating three different colored protective shields above the two of them.